Category Archives for Hotels.
Marriott has their own homesharing platform to compete directly with Airbnb, but Marriott hotels list at Airbnb and not Marriott Homes & Villas, and in some cases pull their room inventory from Marriott entirely to sell suites through Airbnb.
What I find perhaps most striking is nobody at Marriott corporate thought to Google “airbnb+[Marriott brand]” to suss this stuff out?
Given the threat that Airbnb poses to the traditional lodging model, I was surprised to read a review of the Moxy Portland Downtown that included the discovery that they sell their suite on Airbnb – and not Marriott.com.
Wall mounted bottles don’t get properly cleaned or refilled, and they’re a prime target for tampering by a practical joker or someone with more sinister motives.
A perfect example was a recent reader stay at the Westin Detroit Metro Airport.
Marriott is offering a 45% bonus on purchased points through December 8 when buying at least 2000 points. Marriott co-brand cardmembers can take advantage of the offer through December 15, 2021.
A simple math exercise shows when you’re better off buying versus transferring (and why in most cases you’re better off doing neither).
Hyperinflation is no big deal to the CEO of Hilton, who says “We can reprice our product every second of every day.”
He’s not actually expecting hyperinflation, just the Janet Yellen-Jerome Powell kind of course. And though Hilton is a global company, he’s focused on U.S. inflation. But he makes the case that investors who worry about inflation should buy Hilton stock because Hilton can easily raise prices as the value of money falls.
With Marriott extending everyone’s elite status for next year, there are plenty of members getting a status gift – recognizing that once-loyal guests haven’t had their business travel start back up, and especially those whose travels normally taken them abroad including to Asia.
On the other hand there are members who have spent countless nights with their head in beds in 2021. They’ve given Marriott their stays and it turns out they didn’t need to do this in order to keep their elite tier for 2022.
Marriott is extending elite status again, extending free night and suite upgrade certificates, and making free night certificates easier to use. And they’re getting rid of award charts, moving to a more revenue-based redemption system starting in March.
Hyatt is adjusting its award chart to create peak and off peak pricing at each category for reward nights booked starting Tuesday, October 26th for stays March 1, 2022 and beyond. This is a devaluation, but Hyatt’s program remains better than competitors’.
Golds and Diamonds will be notified of enhanced room’ upgrades 72 hours in advance and will be able to select a room from the new upgraded room category through the chain’s mobile app.
They’re also adding key sharing to their digital room key feature, so that a guest can give their key to (for instance) someone sharing their room.
Hotels, hurting during the pandemic, made rooms available at a discount for a variety of other purposes too – discount rates for ‘health care heroes’ to get away, rates for governments to use as quarantine facilities. It turns out that presented arbitrage opportunities.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
